Asian Markets Trade Mostly Higher

(RTTNews) - Asian stock markets are trading mostly higher on Monday, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, boosted by strong gains in China, Hong Kong and South Korea. Trades also reacted to the US Fed Chair Jerome Powell's recent somewhat hawkish comments, suggesting the Fed can take a careful approach to future monetary policy decisions and doesn't need to hurry to lower rates. Asian markets closed mixed on Friday.

Powell lauded the economy as "remarkably good", the labor market as "solid" and noted that inflation was "running much closer" to the bank's target.

The Fed is still seen as likely to lower interest rates next month, but CME Group's FedWatch Tool suggests the chances of a quarter point rate cut have fallen to 65.3 percent from 72.2 percent on Thursday.

The Australian stock market is slightly higher on Monday after opening in the red, extending some of the gains in the previous two sessions, despite the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index is staying just below the 8,300.00 level, with gains in mining and energy stocks nearly offset by weakness in some technology and financial stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 9.00 points or 0.11 percent to 8,294.20, after hitting a low of 8,244.30 and a high of 8,294.20 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 9.40 points or 0.11 percent to 8,548.40. Australian stocks closed significantly higher on Friday.

Among the major miners, BHP Group is gaining almost 1 percent, Rio Tinto is adding almost 2 percent, Fortescue Metals is edging up 0.2 percent and Mineral Resources is advancing almost 4 percent. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Beach energy, Origin Energy and Santos are gaining more than 1 percent each, while Woodside Energy is edging up 0.5 percent.

Among tech stocks, Afterpay owner Block is gaining 1.5 percent and WiseTech Global is adding almost 1 percent, while Appen is declining more than 5 percent, Xero is down almost 1 percent and Zip is losing 2.5 percent.

Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining is gaining more than 3 percent and Newmont is up almost 1 percent, while Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are adding more than 2 percent each.

Among the big four banks, National Australia Bank and ANZ Banking are losing almost 1 percent each, while Commonwealth Bank is down more than 1 percent. Westpac is flat.

In other news, shares in Australian uranium miners Paladin Energy and Boss Energy are surging almost 7 percent after Russia announced a ban on uranium exports to the US. Silex Systems is soaring more than 11 percent.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.647 on Monday.

The Japanese stock market is trading significantly lower on Monday, reversing the gains in the previous session. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is falling well above the 38,400 level, following the broadly negative cues from Wall Street on Friday, with weakness across most sectors led by index heavyweights, financial and technology stocks.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index closed the morning session at 38,343.39, down 299.52 or 0.78 percent, after hitting a low of 38,150.39 earlier. Japanese shares ended modestly higher on Friday.

Market heavyweight SoftBank Group is losing almost 2 percent and Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing is down almost 1 percent. Among automakers, Honda is edging up 0.4 percent, while Toyota is losing more than 1 percent.

In the tech space, Screen Holdings and Tokyo Electron are losing almost 2 percent each, while Advantest is gaining almost 1 percent.

In the banking sector, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial is losing almost 1 percent and Mizuho Financial is edging down 0.5 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is flat.

The major exporters are mostly lower. Panasonic and Canon are edging down 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Mitsubishi Electric is losing 1.5 percent. Sony is gaining almost 1 percent.

Among other major losers, Chugai Pharmaceutical and Dentsu Group are slipping more than 7 percent each, while Aozora Bank and Ebara are losing more than 6 percent each. Eisai is down more than 4 percent, Otsuka Holdings is declining almost 4 percent. IHI are sliding more than 3 percent, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Astellas Pharma, Daiichi Sankyo, Shionogi & Co., Renesas Electronics and Resona Holdings are falling almost 3 percent each.

Conversely, Ryohin Keikaku is surging almost 7 percent, M3 is gaining more than 5 percent, Taise is adding more than 4 percent and Mercari is up almost 3 percent.

In economic news, the total value of core machine orders in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 0.7% on Month in September, the Cabinet Office said on Monday - coming in at 852.0 billion yen. That missed forecasts for an increase of 1.4 percent following the 1.9 percent contraction in August.

On a yearly basis, core machine orders fell 4.8 percent after slumping 3.4 percent in the previous month. For the third quarter of 2024, core machine orders fell 1.3 percent on quarter and 0.4 percent on year. For the fourth quarter of 2024, core machine orders are seen higher by 5.7 percent on quarter and 8.0 percent on year.

In the currency market, the U.S. dollar is trading in the higher 154 yen-range on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, China, Hong Kong and South Korea are lower by between 1.5 and 2.2 percent each and New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia, are up by between 0.1 and 0.5 percent each. Indonesia and Taiwan are down 0.8 and 0.1 percent, respectively.

On Wall Street, stocks showed a more substantial move to the downside during trading on Friday after coming under pressure late in Thursday's session. The major averages all moved sharply lower on the day, pulling back well off Monday's record closing highs.

The major averages climbed off their worst levels in late-day trading but remained firmly negative. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way lower, plunging 427.53 points or 2.2 percent to 18,680.12. The S&P 500 also tumbled 78.55 points or 1.3 percent to 5,870.62, while the narrower Dow slid 305.87 points or 0.7 percent to 43,444.99.

The major European markets all also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slid by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index fell by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

Crude oil prices plummeted Friday on concerns about the outlook for demand, recent data showing an increase in U.S. crude inventories and a stronger dollar. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for December sank $1.68 or 2.45 percent at $67.02 a barrel; they shed 5 percent in the week.